The impact of migration on individuals and families is complex and presents many challenges and constraints, in addition to opportunities. One essential dimension of this complexity requires us to know the impact of migration on transnational family relationships, each in the destination country and in the destination country. country of origin.
We see this type of disruption in the story of Chipo, who described one paradox at the heart of the phenomenon of Zimbabwean migration to South Africa: the breakdown of the family system as a consequence of trying to save lots of the same family. This phenomenon has been illustrated in full our dataso the story of one among the 20 participants that we tell here is in some ways representative of the other families in the study.
This story began with hope for a greater future and pride in with the ability to handle my family members. However, the bond between parents and youngsters has been severely strained by separation and distance.
Chipo’s story
The story of forty-year-old Chipo shows the perspective of a parent forced to desert a baby to offer for him. She had to depart her seven-year-old son in the care of her elderly mother to search for work and proceed his education in South Africa. She always agonizes over the impact this could have on her relationship along with her son in the years to come back.
He describes his move as follows:
It was mostly a seek for greener pastures.
Her words confirm the idealized and aspirational view that many Zimbabwean migrants initially had of South Africa. She emphasized the essential role of technology in maintaining relationships with the family left behind. WhatsApp is the preferred solution to keep in contact along with your family:
We have a family WhatsApp group for me, my mother and my brother, so we keep up to this point with all family matters. Even in the morning, if it’s good morning, if it’s scripture, if it’s anything… that is how we all know we’re connected. So every morning we are saying good morning, how was your sleep? And things like that, after which in the afternoon, if there’s something, any problems, or if there are… yes, any problems, that is how we keep in contact and communicate.
The role of technology
WhatsApp groups appear to be a solution to recreate family interactions in transnational families and facilitate on a regular basis family interactions. They have been shown to be very effective at constructing and maintaining kinship relationships over a distance.
Their use indicates what it means to be a family existing in the digital environment. Through these groups, virtual closeness might be achieved, which helps fulfill the desire to stay a connected family despite physical distance.
However, the technology shouldn’t be without its challenges. In many cases, this comes at a price. Chipo described how she used text messaging and voice recording as an alternative of video calls attributable to the high cost of knowledge:
These are mainly text messages and voice recordings, for instance… especially in Zimbabwe where data is a bit expensive. So video calls usually are not… we do not really use them fairly often.
Deep asymmetries have been observed between the home country and the destination country relating to communication cheaper for migrants than for his or her families.
Various kinds of information and communication technologies (ICT) can be found primarily to wealthy families and individuals who live in cities. As a result, migrants’ ability to take care of contact with family left behind could also be in danger attributable to prohibitive costs and lack of ICT infrastructure.
It can also be the case that the high cost of knowledge potentially impacts relationship constructing, especially in situations where children usually are not sufficiently old to know text messages, and where children would profit from video and voice calls which give a very important visual presence and easier way of building contacts. share an emotional bond.
Despite these difficulties, there was a standard belief amongst the 20 participants that ICT enables migrants to proceed a caring relationship with distant family members. Participants exchange different levels and kinds of care. For example, Chipo found it easier to offer medical care to family members through ICT because she was capable of obtain medical advice and other types of practical care in South Africa. It can also be more convenient for her to coordinate every part because she doesn’t wish to overwork her elderly mother who’s already caring for her son. This includes organizing a pharmacy in South Africa to offer medical advice to her family in Zimbabwe:
Let’s say for instance… in the previous few weeks my son has had a slight fever and a runny nose… So I needed to coordinate… his medications.
ICT can also be used to offer other practical types of care, akin to access to groceries.
What shouldn’t be said
Thus, care exchanges in transnational families transcend sending remittances, as they include health and practical needs. A key issue can also be what is alleged and what shouldn’t be said through virtual communication – as an act of caring for people they could hide information from one another. Chipo describes how one time when her son was sick, her mother didn’t tell her. In retrospect, such silence was particularly stressful given the Covid-19 pandemic:
And then I used to be told that my son had a relentless cough and every part. And that was before I understood anything about Covid-19 and things like that… But my mother told me possibly every week later that your son had a relentless cough and… so I got very upset, saying that you simply were only telling me now, my son might have been dying , and also you’re only telling me now – why didn’t you tell me the first day he did it?
The growing gap
Chipo considered the visits to be very essential with the intention to fill an information gap that, in her opinion, couldn’t be easily filled by ICT:
But for Christmas I’d quite have him come, and so they come too, and since you may video call, you may take voice notes, but there’s still that gap. You should physically see them and spend time with them, so yes. So it’s each.
In times of worldwide anxiety and uncertainty, families have to stay connected more often and more urgently. Overall, despite the advantages of ICT and the creative uses of technology, there was a way of loss in Chipo’s relationship along with his son:
And possibly one thing… as much as technology helps… I feel that even the bond between me and my son will (change) over time if the situation stays like this… The gap will get larger and greater over time.
Why it matters
Chipo’s story is about migrants who leave their family members behind to save lots of their family from financial difficulties. Their departure creates an inevitable sense of disunity inside the family they seek to guard. This implies that while children of migrant parents appear to receive higher financial support than children from non-immigrant familiesthere are also heartbreaking challenges in coping with distance, in addition to the realistic fear that separation will harm relationships.
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